


Chemical Reactions - Part 22

by Winchester_with_Wings



Series: Chemical Reactions - Teacher AU [22]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Angst, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Heartbreak, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 06:06:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18138413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winchester_with_Wings/pseuds/Winchester_with_Wings
Summary: Series Summary: Being a teacher at Central City Academy doesn’t leave much time for a personal life. You didn’t really notice or care…that is until the day the new substitute science teacher, Barry Allen makes an appearance.Part 22: You and Barry only have a short time to make a decision.





	Chemical Reactions - Part 22

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my amazing friend and beta @thinkwritexpress-official!! Hope ya’ll like it! Sorry that it’s been a while since I posted. Life has been crazy. just been pulled in every direction lately. :(
> 
> Ya’ll are finally gonna find out how this story got it’s name!
> 
> warnings(?): angst, Barry cusses. that must mean it’s emotional right?

The weekend goes by as usual. You and Barry order in and grade homework on Friday night. On Saturday, you hang out and binge Netflix. Sunday morning, you have a brunch with Caitlin. It lasts several hours as you tell her about the meeting with the Dean.

“Have you and Barry talked about it, yet?” she’d asked.

“No. It’s kinda like we’re pretending it didn’t happen at all,” you answered honestly. You’d slumped in your chair because you were as much to blame as Barry. You didn’t want to face it either.

On Sunday night…

You cling to Barry and he holds onto you. You’re curled up in bed, a late night show on the bedroom tv, but the volume is down and neither of you are paying attention. There’s a bedside lamp on, casting a warm glow over the two of you.

Barry is wearing flannel pajama pants and a cotton t-shirt with some faded logo on it. You’re wearing an extra large and extra old t-shirt too. It’s the shirt you wear when you’re sick or cramping from your period, or when you’re just not feeling good, perhaps sad. Barry pretends not to notice.

You’re resting your head on Barry’s chest and pulling the comforter up to your chest. Barry curls his arm around you and runs his fingers through your hair. It’s soothing for the both of you.

In the silence, you’re left alone with your thoughts. Barry must feel your warm tears soaking through his shirt. He reaches out with his other hand to stroke your cheek, wiping away the sadness.

You still feel hopeless.

“Barry…what are we going to do?” you say, sniffling.

“I don’t know,” he whispers back. “We still have some time. We’ll figure this out.” He kisses the top of your head before reaching out to turn out the light and turn off the tv. “Just get some rest, sweetheart.”

Barry’s grip tightens around you when he feels your body shaking, wracked with quiet sobs.

—————————————————————

You and Barry keep your distance on Monday and Tuesday. Caitlin, Ronnie, and Cisco notice the distant attitude but of course they understand. No doubt Caitlin has shared the news with them and the two of you don’t mind.

But Barry…he hates how he’s acting. In even just two days he’s become detached and less energetic while teaching. The students would have to be blind to not notice the sudden change. He knows you’re feeling terrible too. He doesn’t blame you for not telling him about your meeting with Stein. He didn’t tell you that he’d received the same email too.

He still hasn’t told you about Patty either.

He meant to. He’d asked you down to the track field that day to tell you about Patty’s behavior. But he’d just been so happy to see you that it had escaped his mind at the expense of his better judgement.

Patty is in Barry’s forensic science elective class.

“Hello Mr. Allen,” she says in a rather suggestive tone while walking into his classroom before everyone else. Barry props the door to his room open and stays standing. He watches her and tries to gauge if she’s acting differently. It’s obvious to him but he hopes the rest of his students can’t tell. No, they can just tell that something’s wrong with him. Even one or two of his students asked if he was okay on their way out of class. He lies, of course.

Patty just keeps looking after him with a secret twinkle in her eyes.

On Wednesday, he can’t take the chance anymore. He needs to know if she knows anything else. How else can he make a decision with you about Dr. Stein’s ultimatum?

“Patty, come see me after class? ” Barry whispers to her while the class is engaged in lab work. She gives him a sickly-sweet half smile and it makes him nauseous.

She delays putting away her things in her backpack at the end of class until she’s the last one there. Then Barry closes the door and locks it.

“Looks like you’ve come around to my proposal, Mr. Allen.” Patty sits on one of the tables and crosses her legs. She’s wearing shorts today and the pose shows off her tan and toned legs.

“Absolutely not.”

Her smile only falters for a moment.

“You’re not getting what you want, Patty. Sorry if that’s the first time you’ve ever heard that,” Barry says curtly, a muscle in his jaw twitching.

“But…I–I’ll tell Dr. Stein that you propositioned me. He’ll believe me.”

“Really?” Barry scoffed. “Why do you think he’ll take your word over mine?”

“Because…because he already knows about you and Ms. Y/L/N.”

And there it is.

“It’s just an anonymous tip right now. I could retract it if I were so inclined.”

Barry’s chest rises and falls with angry breaths. His hands are in his pockets but they’re balling into fists.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to manipulate me? What do you have against Y/N?”

“Oh, I have nothing against her. It’s you, Mr. Allen. I want you. I want you before I leave this place.” Patty hops down from the table and starts approaching Barry. He stands his ground. “I’ve always been a good girl.” She rolls her eyes. “Teacher’s pet, following directions and always behaving. I’ve got that 4.0 GPA my mom wants me to have. I’ve been accepted to the college she wanted. I’ve always done what others expected of me. Now it’s time I get something that I want, that I deserve.”

“You’re not getting what you want, Patty. I’m not going to touch you and you’re not going to come between me and Y/N.”

“But I already have. I saw you two at the field last Friday. I have photos now. Dr. Stein won’t believe you, no matter what you have to say.”

Barry tries to recover from the shock of those words. He suspected that it could have been Patty at the field but photos? He tries to think back and recall if it’s even possible. Is Patty bluffing again? She wasn’t bluffing before either…she’d gone to the dean and snitched on your relationship. Did she really have pictures?

Did it even matter?

Barry sighs and calms down; his angry furrowed brows come apart once more and he smirks at Patty. He walks to his classroom door and unlocks it. Patty seems taken aback by his sudden change in demeanor.

It doesn’t matter. He knows that now.

Who cares if Patty has pictures? You and Barry had already admitted to kissing on campus. You’d admitted to the relationship and the two of you would face those consequences. And Patty? It didn’t matter what she had to say to the Dean, because Barry’s side of the story was the truth. You would support him; he had to have faith that you would believe him.

Barry opens the door.

“Our conversation is done, Miss Spivot. I’ll see you the next time we have class. But that’s the extent of our interactions from now on. If you have questions with homework, you’re welcome to get help from the tutoring center. Have a nice day.” Barry doesn’t let Patty get a word in as he ushers her out.

He doesn’t doubt that she might be heading for the dean’s office right now with those photos. He can’t bring himself to care. What he truly cares about is you. And he’s dreading the conversation you have to have before Friday. Dr. Stein will be expecting an answer soon.

Either one of you leaves CCA or you break up.

He knows where he stands on that decision. But what about you?

————————————————————— 

The few days the Dr. Stein had given you has gone in no time.

It was both the slowest and fastest week you’ve ever experienced. Classes go by in a blur. Everyone is more aware of the upcoming end of the year. Less than 8 weeks left. Has this year really gone by that fast?

Time flies when you’re falling in love.

But on Thursday, the minutes pass like hours. You’re in no particular hurry to get home. You’re dreading the upcoming night. Barry made plans to stop by a liquor store to grab wine. You expect him around dinner time.

He enters your apartment with the key you gave him. Setting down the wine, he finds you in your bedroom.

Curled up in bed. Alone and feeling numb.

He kicks off his shoes and climbs onto the bed, curling an arm around you and pulling you into his chest. He can see that you’ve been crying, the skin under your eyes red and puffy.

“It’s going to be okay,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

“Barry, what are we going to do?”

“I don’t know. I guess we have to figure that out. But it’s going to be okay, Y/N.”

You pull yourself out of Barry’s embrace and get off the bed. Your tears are renewed and you’re running your fingers through your hair, ready to tear it out.

“How can you say that!? You know it’s not. We knew being together was a risk. And now this is the ultimate consequence.”

“Maybe not,” Barry responds, getting to his feet as well. You start to walk away into the living room and he follows. “Maybe there’s another way.”

“What are you talking about?” You sigh, rolling your eyes as you grab the bottle of wine and stomp into the kitchen for a bottle opener.

“I know who filed the complaint.” Barry’s lips form into a tight line and he looks anywhere but you. You freeze just before the cork pops out of the bottle.

“What? Who did you tell? You think it was Cisco or Caity? They would never do this to us,” you rapid fire your questions.

“No. I didn’t tell anyone.”

“Well neither did I!”

“I know. Babe, I know. It was…” Barry sighs and starts rubbing hard at the back of his neck. He rolls his head from side to side. “It was a student.” You stare at him in shock so he continues. “Patty Spivot. She…she–uh–she came onto me the last day of school before Spring Break. She said that she knew I was seeing someone, a student or a teacher…I thought she was bluffing. She didn’t know who I was seeing. Didn’t have any evidence. She said she was going to go to Dr. Stein and…” Barry goes on while you pour yourself and him a glass of wine. He scoffs in anger at himself and rolls his eyes. “She threatened to go to Dr. Stein and  _fucking tattle-tale_  on me if I didn’t give her what she wanted.”

“What did she want from you, Barry?” You offer him the glass of wine but keep your distance from him, standing back and leaning against the counter while he confessed.

“I don’t know.” He threw his hands up before taking his glass of wine. “I don’t know. I didn’t care. I don’t know if she wanted me to fucking kiss her or to fuck her. I don’t know, Y/N. It doesn’t matter. I said no.”

“So you let her go to the dean.”

“You’re missing the point, Y/N. A student came onto me. That’s a helluva lot worse than two teachers getting together. I wasn’t going to compromise myself or what we had.”

“But you did, Barry. She filed the complaint and now our relationship is on the line.”

“What would you have had me do? Give the princess of the senior class what she wanted?” Barry’s face twists up in disgust and insult. What was your answer going to be? You didn’t even know because what would you have done in his place?

“Why didn’t you tell me about this? I went into that meeting and I was blindsided.”

“I meant to tell you. At the field. But I didn’t get the chance.”

“Right because…” You trail off because you were there and you were partly to blame too; kissing him back under those bleachers, desperate for that secret thrill. You finish your glass of wine.

“I talked to Patty yesterday. I thought I could get her to retract the complaint. But she’s the one who saw us at the field. She claims she has pictures.” You don’t answer right away, looking at the ground and replaying the events in your head.

“How could she? She ran away the second she saw us,” you say defensively.

“Exactly. I don’t think she does have pictures but the so-called damage is done. Dr. Stein knows about us.” Barry takes a long sip of his drink; he wishes it was stronger. The red wine coats his throat, soothing it from talking. His mouth remains dry and his throat grows tighter. He’s holding back his own emotions and tears. You’ve cried enough for the both of you. He needs to keep it together that much.

“We admitted to it,” you whispered, “and it was all just an unfounded claim until then.”

“That’s why it doesn’t matter if Patty supposedly has pictures of us,” Barry muttered.

“We should’ve stayed quiet. We shouldn’t have admitted to it. We should’ve known it was just a rumor. Oh god, Barry, what are we going to do? How could we be so stupid?” You start crying all over again and Barry closes the distance between you two, enveloping you in his arms. Your hands grasp at his shirt, balling into fists.

“It’s going to be okay.”

“No,” you hiccup.

“Yes,” Barry soothes you, rubbing your back. “I’ll leave CCA. I’ll teach somewhere else.”

You push against Barry’s chest so you can unbury your face and look up at him.

“What? No, Barry, you can’t do that. It’s a full-time position and you just accepted it. You love it and I encouraged you to take it. I can’t let you do that. It’ll hurt your career!”

“Y/N, you’re more important to me than some job. I can find something else.” You push yourself out of Barry’s arms completely, the heartbroken look on his face kills you.

“No. I can’t let you. I’m not worth that. I’m not worth losing your career over. Barry, you can’t quit. I will.”

“Absolutely not. You’ve been at CCA longer; you could even get tenure someday. I’m not letting you give that up. I can find another job. You should stay.”

“You don’t think I could find another job?” You’re projecting your own doubt onto Barry and he knows it.

“Of course not. You know I don’t think that. You could have any job you wanted. But I don’t care about some job. What we have is real. I love you, Y/N.”

You stay silent rather than repeating the sentiment.

“Love and desire are just chemical reactions, aren’t they, Barry?” you say, somber and unwilling to meet his gaze. “Hormones mixed with dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Isn’t that right? It’s not real; it’s just a scientific concoction.”

“Y/N…what are you trying to say?”

“Barry, we jeopardized everything to be together.”

“Yeah? We knew the risks from the beginning. It was fucking worth it,” he says harshly. He’s raising his voice, it’s raspy and his face is contorted in anger and pain. He’s fighting for you. “And what? You just want to throw it all away now?”

“You don’t want me to quit CCA and I can’t let you quit. We’d end up resenting each other. I don’t know what other options there are now.”

You finally look up when you hear Barry scoff and release a shaky sigh. His beautiful green eyes are dull but glistening with unshed tears. His shoulders have slumped and his mouth is hanging open with his lower lip quivering.

“Y/N, don’t do this. Please don’t do this.” He approaches you, slow enough to allow you to retreat. You don’t. He cradles your face between his hands. His tears fall freely as he wipes away your own. He continues to shake his head and your hands shake as you hold onto his waist. “P-please, no. Don’t do this.” He presses wet, salty kisses to your lips. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to get past this. We’ll figure it out.”

“No, Barry. No, we won’t.”


End file.
